Aquarium



v Dac.-29, 1931; A. DE cLAIRIJONT Aquimwl Filed Nov. 6. 1929 3 ShutFShut 2 Patented Dec. 29, 1931 a I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE l mam p CLAIRMONT, or LOS Antennas, CALIFORNIA I i i aemmruu Application med master e, 1929. Se'riaI No. 405,2 08.

This invention relates to aquariums and Fig. 6 is a vertical sectionalview through has as its primary aim to provide an aqua- Fi 5. rium so constructed that the value of the exrom an inspection of the. drawings and hibit therein will be greatly enhanced, parfrom the specific description of theaquarium 5 'ticularly as concerns its attractiveness and which is to follow, it will be evident that the. 5

from an educationalview point. In the ordisame may be made in various sizes and shapes nary aquariums consisting merely of a tank, and that arrangements and effectsother than it is impractical to exhibit any forms of sea those illustrated in'theseveral figures of the j life, except such as will remain alive in capdrawings may beresorted to without departtivity, For example, in such a tank it is im? ing from the principles of the invention. In 60 possible to exhibit various forms of .coral, the several figures of the drawings, the aquavarious kinds of shell fish, sea anemones, Iium is illustrated as comprising a tank, inpolyps, medusae, etc.; nor is it practical in dicated in general by the reference letter A, the ordinary aquarium tank to for any length which is to be filled with water to maintain T1 of time keep various forms of aquatic life, as the living members of the exhibit and a case 5 they, like coral, accumulate slirneand become B which inthe forms of theinvention illusdiscolored. The present invention,theref0re, trated is arranged at the back of the tank A aims to provide an aquarium so constructed and which isto contain the portion of the ex- A, I that there may be exhibited therein various hibit Which cannot be kept in water. The i types of aquatic life which cannot be extank A comprises the usual base 1, ends 2, hibited in the ordinary aquarium tank so that, front 3 and back 4, and in the present instance as stated, the exhibit will possess greater eduhe fr nt 3 and back 4 are of glass or other cational value and be more attractive than transparent. material whereas the ends 2 are the ordinary exhibit. opaque or'translucent. As stated, in the tank The invention aims further to so construct there are exhibited fishes and other living 7 v V the aquarium that the various forms of aquatic forms of life which can be kept alive i habl ti lif or mod ls th of to for a considerable period of time in captivity. "be exhibited will appear to be submerged al- The case B comprises a base portion5 which I th h a a matt r of f t, th y ar t 1 maybe a continuation of the base 1 of the tank ;cated inthe water in which the live fish'and 'or may be separate therefrom, a back 6 and go th lik a k t; Th by foll in th ends 7, the case beingopen at itsfront and principles of the present invention there may belng so arranged that its open fron w l be be exhibited various types of fishes in their t J IIt the back 4 of the tank A; The natural element and may also'be exhibited the k 01 rear W ll 6 of the case B may be trans- 341 other forms ofaquatic life-above mentioned B translucent, 1 op que, as d 85 so that the living fishand'the like appear to sirable. In any event, the case B is preferbe in'surroundings such as would be likely to y p n t i s top s is also the'tank A, so be found at the bottom ofthe ea, that the interior of the case Will be illumi- In the accompanyingdrawingj g 'nated by light entering through the top as Fig 1 i a perspective viewofan aquari- Well as by light entering through the front 90 Q um constructed in accordance with 'thepresf 1, n O her Words, passing hrough entinven'tion, 1 p the transparent rear wall 4 of the.tank. As Fig. 2 is a vertical front to rear sectional in the ase of the back 6, the ends"? of the case View therethrough, 7 may be transparent, translucent, or opaque,

t Fi 3'1 p eti e i ill t ti o althoughit is preferable that they be opaque o5 'end of a second form of aquarium, P so as to permit of the interior of the case be- Fig. 4is a similarview illustrating a third ing viewed only through the water inuthe tank form of the invention, a A. Painted or molded in any suitable manner 7 Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a fourth form upon the inner face of the back 6 of the case ofthe invention, and 1 B, as indicated by the numeral 8, is an under 1 wardly from the inner face of the back 6 of.

the case.

In that form of the inventionshown in Figure 1 of the drawings, the back 6 f the case occupies aplane parallel to the rear wall it of the tank A, both being disposed in position perpendicular to the bottom of the aquarium. However, if desired, the wall 4: may be vertically disposed and the back wall 6 of the case B may bearranged in a plane upwardly inclined away from the said wall 4:. In that form of the invention shown in Figure 4 of the drawings, the wall 6 is inclined as stated above, and the wall 4 is also inclined, the two walls occupying parallel planes.

From the foregoing description of the invention, it will be understood that when the interior of the aquarium is viewed through the front wall 3 of the tank A, the exhibit in in the said tank and will, in fact, appear to be submerged in the water and thus the fish and the like contained in the tank A will appear to move in their natural surroundings. Where the wall 6 of the case B is of transparent material or even of translucent material, a light passing therethrough will so illuminate the exhibit within the said case that transparent elements thereof, such, for example, as jelly-fish and the like, will be so illuminated as to give a clear idea as to their structure.

In Figures '5 and 6, there has been illustrated a fourth form of the improved aquarium. In this form of the invention, there is provided a frame 10 formed of angle metal and standards 11 and 12 projecting upwardly from the front and rear corners of the frame and also formed of angle metal. A sheet con stituting a bottom for the tank 1 1 and case 15 rests upon the inwardly extending horizontal flanges of the'frame, and in order to form end walls for the tank and case, there has been provided metal sheets 16 which rest upon ends of the metal sheet 13 and bear against the inwardly extending flanges of the standards or posts 11 and 12. The rear wall for the case consists of a metal sheet 17 which rests upon the rear edge of the bottom or sheet 13 and is confined between flanges of the post 12 and rear edges of the walls 16. It is to be understood that, if so desired, the walls 16 and 17 may be formed from a continuous sheet of metal bent to assume the proper shape. The front wall 18 for the tank which consists of a thick plate of clear glass fits between the posts or standards 11 and rests upon the forward end portion of the bottom 13, and in order to provide the tank with a rear wall 19, there is employed a. plate of transparent glass which is set in place, as shown, with its ends engaged in tracks or standards 20 and its lower portion fitted into a seat 21 from the ends of which the standards 20 project. The seat 21 and standards 20 are preferably formed from a continuous strip of channel metal having its end portions bent upwardly, but it will be understood that separate strips of channel metal may be employed for this purpose. From an inspection of Figures 6, it will be seen that the wall 17 is disposed at such an incline that the distance between these walls increases toward the bottom of the case 15. Therefore, when marine objects or representations thereof are'mounted in this case for observation through the wall of partition 19, an effect of increased distance will be imparted and a very attractive aquarium will be produced when water is poured into the tank 14 and fishes in the tank and the marine objects in the case are viewed through the front wall 18 of the tank and the partition.

Having thus described the invention, I claim:

1. In an aquarium, a tank having a bottom, end walls and transparent front and rear walls, and a case back of said tank separated therefrom by the rear wall of the tank. distance between the rear walls of the tank and case increasing towards the bottom of the case.

2. In an aquarium, a tank having a bottom, end walls and transparent front and rear walls, and a case back of said tank separated therefrom by the rear wall of the tank, said case having a rear wall disposed at an incline to impart increasing distance between the rear walls of thetank and case when contents of the tank and case are viewed through the transparent front wall of the tank.

3. In an aquarium, a tank having a bottom, end walls and transparent front and rear walls, and a case back of said tank separated therefrom by the rear wall of the tank, said case having a rear wall disposed at an incline and sloping rearwardly towards its lower end whereby distance between the rear walls of the tank and the case increases towards the bottom of the case.

1. In an aquarium, a frame of angle metal, posts of angle metal extending upwardly from front and rear corners of said frame, a

bottom supported upon inwardly extending flanges of said frame, end walls in said frame engaged by the front and rear posts, a rear wall rising from said'bottom between said end walls and engaged by the rear posts, a transparent front Wall resting upon said bottom and engaging the end walls and front posts, a U-shaped yoke of channel metal restmg upon said bottom with its arms extending upwardly against the end walls, and a transparent partition extending between the end walls with its ends and lower edge portion engaged by the yoke and defining a front tank and rear case.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

ADOLPH de CLAIRMONT, M. D. I,. s.] 

